Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins is sorry.

At who?

Wide receiver Adam Thielen.

Why?

Not giving him a chance with his deep balls.

Two days after Thielen publicly criticized Cousins for his inability to hit deep passes, following the Vikings' 16-6 loss to the Chicago Bears, Cousins put out his apology to the Pro Bowl wide receiver.

“I really want to apologize to [Thielen] because there’s too many opportunities where we could have hit him on Sunday,” Cousins said on KFAN, via Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, “and postgame when I talk to the media I always say, ‘Hey, until I watch the film it’s hard for me to really give you a straight answer.’

“Well, now it’s Tuesday night. I’ve watched the film and the reality is there were opportunities for [Thielen]. The one that’s most obvious is the third-and-10 at the beginning of the game. We’re near midfield. That’s arguably seven points. If you put the ball where it needs to be he’s shown . . . that he will make that play and he’ll probably finish the play in the end zone and pull away from the defender.

“Adam’s not just a really good player or one of the best players on the Vikings, he’s one of the best players in the NFL, one of the best players in the world, period, regardless of position. And so we want to, we need to, I need to get him more opportunities. Get him the football.”

To mask Cousins' noted deficiencies as a deep-ball thrower, the Vikings are going full run-game. Nonetheless, they must figure out a way to get the ball to Thielen and his running mate, Stefon Diggs. If not, teams will continue to shift their focus on the run; why wouldn't they if Cousins can't take advantage of a star-studded wide receiver duo?